Roscoe Leaving, But Will Return. Maybe.

Crosby had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow on June 25 of this year.

CLEMSON - Roscoe Crosby is withdrawing from Clemson. But he'll be back in
January. Maybe.
Sounding very much like a confused young man with much on his mind, Crosby -
the widely-heralded wide receiver from Union High School who is on a medical
redshirt season at Clemson - announced Thursday that he is withdrawing from
classes immediately and reporting to Phoenix, Az. next week to step up rehab
work on his elbow.
Crosby's rehabilitation will be overseen by the Kansas City Royals, who took
the two-sport star in the second round of the 2001 June Draft and paid him a
signing bonus of $1.75 million.
The Royals will be overseeing his rehabilitation.
"I'm going to go out to Arizona and basically finish rehabbing my arm,"
Crosby said following Clemson's Thursday practice. "I talked with (head coach
Tommy) Bowden and everybody and told them why I wanted to withdraw from
classes right now. I really want to get out there this season and get
healthy.
"Not that the Clemson trainers couldn't do it. But there's a lot of
(baseball) players out there rehabbing right now, and I want to get out there
and run and be around them."
Crosby had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow on June 25 of this year,
which kept him from playing minor league baseball during the summer and
forced his medical redshirt at Clemson for 2002.
The surgery was the culmination of a tumultuous spring for Crosby, who also
saw three friends killed and two others injured in an automobile accident
while en route to Florida to watch him play baseball. There also were reports
that he may have been the target of a drive-by shooting incident sometime
afterwards while back in Union.
And all of this came on top of a freshman season which saw Crosby miss time
with both a knee injury and a broken nose, the latter of which came during
the on-field celebration after a dramatic overtime win at Georgia Tech.
Add it all together, and you have a young man seemingly walking around with
the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"Right now I kind of want to get away," Crosby said. "It's not really about
the baseball-football thing, because I'm still going to do both. I'll be back
in Jan. to finish getting my hours in class so I'll be eligible next year."
Crosby admitted that he wrestled with the dilemma for some time, and that
continuing to play both sports was something of a last-minute decision.
But with a deadline of today looming for any student to withdraw from class
without getting a grade, he and wide receivers coach Rick Stockstill found an
NCAA rule which allows for a one-time withdrawal from classes for medical
reasons. Crosby will use that exemption now in hopes of getting his arm back
in shape in time to play for the Royals next spring.
It also gives him a chance to get his head together, which he admits is
important, especially with the still-lingering effects of the accident which
claimed the life of his friends.
"I went through the ordeal with my best friends, and the spotlight...I just
wanted everything to die down and it wouldn't go away," Crosby said. "Right
now I feel like I can go to Arizona and relax."
"There's been a lot on the kid that a lot of people don't understand,"
Stockstill said. "I've got a lot of sympathy for him. I understand everything
he's going through and a lot of the adversity he's had to overcome."
Whether or not the relaxation he seeks eases Crosby's mind remains to be
seen.
But it was obvious Thursday that he's still struggling with the pressures of
being a two-sport star. Asked whether there was a scenario that could develop
in Arizona which would change his mind about returning to Clemson, Crosby was
noncommittal.
"Right now I really can't say," he said. "What always made me happy was
baseball and football. The Royals understand that and Clemson understands
that. But right now I really can't say."